Photo courtesy of Curt Hudson

Camden, NJ … The College of New Jersey baseball team knocked off top-seeded Rutgers University-Camden 9-4 in the opening round of the 2015 New Jersey Athletic Conference Championship Tournament.
 
The Lions (17-16) will now take on fourth-seeded Rowan University on Friday at 3:30 p.m. The Profs were shut out by Ramapo College 7-0 in their opening round game. All games for the remainder of the tournament will be played at Jim Hynes Field at Kean University.
 
TCNJ fell behind twice in the game, but scored two runs in the sixth and seventh, and three more in the eighth inning to capture its first tourney win since 2012. The Lions' offense produced several clutch hits, none bigger than a two-run home run off the bat of junior Garen Turner (Hainesport, NJ/Rancocas Valley) to give TCNJ a 6-4 lead.
 
Senior Anthony Cocuzza (Absecon, NJ/St. Augustine Prep) also had a tremendous game, going four-for-five with three runs batted in. The Lions finished with 11 hits and chased one of the top pitchers in the league in Jeff Singer.
 
Freshman Joe Cirillo (Fairfield, NJ/Depaul Catholic) won his sixth game of the season, pitching six innings and striking out four. Senior Ryan Carmon (Belle Mead, NJ/Montgomery) came on in the seventh and pitched three scoreless innings for the save out of the bullpen.

Trailing 2-0 in the third, Cocuzza stroked a two-run double to left-center field to tie the game. The Scarlet Raptors answered with a pair of runs in the fourth, but the Lions bit back in the sixth.
 
Turner singled to center and advanced to second on an error by the catcher. Senior Michael Murray (Stewartsville, NJ/Phillipsburg) ripped a base hit up the middle to cut the deficit to 4-3. Murray moved into scoring position on an infield ground out and junior John Rizzi (Long Hill, NJ/Watchung Hills) singled to right to tie the game.
 
In the seventh, Cocuzza greeted reliever Ryan Sullivan with a base hit to lead off the inning. One out later, Turner launched his second home run of the season to give TCNJ its first lead of the game, 6-4.
 
The offense did not get complacent and added three more runs in the eighth. Freshman Steve Bucci (Washington Twp., NJ/Washington Twp.) walked, Rizzi dropped down a bunt single and junior Mark Mari (Bayonne, NJ/Seton Hall Prep) drew a free pass to load the bases with nobody out. Cocuzza roped his third hit of the game to drive in Bucci, and Rizzi raced home when the left fielder misplayed the ball. Senior Josh Limon (Eastampton, NJ/Rancocas Valley) lifted a sacrifice fly to give the Lions a 9-4 lead, which would be the eventual outcome.
 
The bullpen has been exceptional for TCNJ this and Carmon continued that trend. He allowed just two hits in his three-inning stint and got the final out on a pop-up to shortstop to send the Lions into the second round with a victory. In the other NJAC tournament game, Kean defeated Montclair State University, 3-2.
 
Rizzi, Mari and Turner finished with two hits. Bucci walked three times and scored a pair of runs.
 
The winner of the NJAC tournament receives an automatic bid to the 2015 NCAA Championship Tournament.